Health Jun. 5. 2020

Inspiring Black-Owned Wellness Businesses, Experts, and Advocates to Know

Jun. 5. 2020
Health
Written By:
McKel (Hill) Kooienga
McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

Founder of Nutrition Stripped and the Mindful Nutrition Method™

Each has a powerful message and strong expertise that can support you on your wellness journey. 

So whether you’re looking for a new podcast, delicious recipes, or books to dive into this summer, you’ll find so many incredible options on this list. 

Black Dietitians And Foodies

Please follow and support these black dietitians and foodies to learn more about the incredible black voices in this community. There are so many others to recognize and connect with beyond this list. You are welcome to contribute to this list and amplify others by tagging them in the comments.

I also encourage all RDs and anyone interested in the world of nutrition, health, and wellness to follow Diversify Dietetics which is dedicated to increasing the racial and ethnic diversity in the field of nutrition. As we continue this journey at NS with listening and learning, we’ll be amplifying expert voices in healthcare bias, food injustice, and more resources of how health care professionals can take intentional action.

In addition, here’s a great article from Examine.com about the inequalities in public health here.

Wellness Podcasts to Support You on Your Wellness Journey 

Follow and subscribe to these podcasts that will be a great addition to your wellness journey. Each host has a strong show has a strong expertise and brings so much

There are so many others to recognize and connect with beyond this list. You are welcome to contribute to this list and amplify others by tagging them in the comments. 

Nutrition Lifestyles with Kim & Johane — designed to educate and excite conversations in women’s health, food, nutrition, wellness, and cross-cultural health topics.

Balanced Black Girl  —  Tune in for approachable health, self-care, personal development, and well-being advice from Black women wellness experts.

Affirm — the podcast for women of color who affirm their worth, value mental health, and seek wholeness

Black Girl Bravado — Candid conversations on self-care, self-love, mental health x wellness, spirituality, humor, entrepreneurship + much more.

Black Girl In Om — Your go-to conversation on all things wellness, self­-care and self-­love for women of color

Hey, girl  — Created with sisterhood and storytelling in mind, author Alex Elle sits down with people who inspire her.

Pink Lemonade Podcast with Whitney L. Barkley, M.S. — A self-help podcast to help you turn life’s lemons into lessons.

In The Light  — acclaimed trauma therapist and life coach, Dr. Anita Phillips talks to special guests and everyday callers about thriving in love, life, and relationships. 

Flow— If you are looking to heal, nourish, and regulate your life in sync with your cycle then you’re in the right place.

Be Well, Sis  —  Too often, Black women are a mere afterthought in conversations around wellness. On this podcast, the dialogue is always centered around women like you.

Wellness Books & Cookbooks by Black Authors

Vibrate Higher Daily: Live Your Power by Lalah Dalia

Delia teaches us how to become aware of the vibrations—energy, life force, frequency—that run through all things. She helps us see how different elements feed our negative and positive vibes, then invites us to take stock: what simple actions raise our vibrations? What people give us good vibes? What things give us bad ones? Delia reveals that when we know what brings us joy and what takes away from it, we become empowered to choose what we give our attention.

Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life by Cleo Wade

When we get real and honest and raw about what we go through, we have the power to turn our words into medicine and our experiences into wisdom. Cleo Wade describes this as: “You will find the type of good ole’-fashioned heartfelt advice I would share with you if we were sitting in my home at my kitchen table.”

More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth

Throughout her life, Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way. In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking journalist unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of an unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to finding herself on the frontlines of a modern movement for the next generation of change-makers.

After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self-Love by Alexandra Elle

After the Rain delivers 15 lessons on how to overcome obstacles, build confidence, and cultivate abundance. Part memoir and part guide, Elle shares stirring stories from her own remarkable journey from self-doubt to self-love.

This soulful collection is filled with illuminating reflections on loss, fear, bravery, healing, love, acceptance, and more. After the Rain is a soulful collection that will have you prepared for everything, no matter what life throws your way.

Crystal Bliss: Attract love, feed your spirit, manifest your dreams by Devi Brown

Whether you’re looking to find purpose, happiness, or cosmic order, author and Karma Bliss founder Devi Brown shows you everything you need to know about the transformative power of crystals. From selecting the right crystals to cleansing, activating, and recharging them, Crystal Bliss will help you unlock your potential, clear out bad vibes, and bring the good into your life!

Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body by Jessamyn Stanley

Jessamyn Stanley, a yogi who breaks all the stereotypes, has built a life as an internationally recognized yoga teacher and award-winning Instagram star by combining a deep understanding of yoga with a willingness to share her personal struggles in a way that touches everyone who comes to know her. Now she brings her body-positive, emotionally uplifting approach to yoga in a book that will help every reader discover the power of yoga and how to weave it seamlessly into his or her life.

Rachel Ama’s Vegan Eats: Tasty Plant-Based Recipes for Every Day By Rachel Ama

No bland or boring dishes, and forget all-day cooking. Rachel takes inspiration from naturally vegan dishes and cuisines as well as her Caribbean and West African roots to create great full-flavor recipes that are easy to make and will inspire you to make vegan food part of your daily life.

Soul Food Love: Healthy Recipes Inspired by One Hundred Years of Cooking in a Black Family By Alic Randall & Caroline Randall Williams

Translating recipes and traditions handed down by generations of black women into easy, affordable, and healthful—yet still indulgent—dishes

Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin 

Jubilee presents techniques, ingredients, and dishes that show the roots of African American cooking—deeply beautiful, culturally diverse, fit for celebration.

Black Girl Baking: Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing by Jerrell Guy 

Jerrelle leads you on a sensual baking journey using the five senses, retelling and reinventing food memories while using whole flours, less refined sugar and vegan alternatives make it easier to celebrate those sweet moments that made her who she is today.

Black-Owned Bookstores to Purchase From

Black-Owned Small Businesses in Food and Wellness

Golde

Superfood health and beauty for everybody. Shop matcha, latte blends, and superfood face masks. 

Hanahana Beauty

Hanahana Beauty is a clean beauty brand that offers ethically sourced + better for you ingredients.

Partake Foods

Delicious cookies that are also gluten-free, vegan and allergy-friendly 

Adjourn Tea House 

Artisanal loose leaf tea company that offers beautifully unique, superior quality, hand-blended teas that are sustainably sourced from around the world.

The Cristalline 

The cristalline is a multifaceted lifestyle service to help you create balanced energy within all aspects of your life.   

Blk + Grn

An all-natural marketplace by all black artisans

Maya’s Cookies 

Award-winning gourmet vegan cookies

The Spice Suite

Spice shop and spice curator shipping monthly spice boxes (she also has a spice marketplace featuring other like-minded Black women-owned businesses) 

Karité

Natural shea butter skincare made by 3 sisters

Briogeo

Transparent clean hair care that detoxifies, hydrates, and protects

Black Mental Health Advocates

Although so many people experience mental health challenges, Black people experience higher rates of mental health conditions due to unmet needs and other barriers.

Black communities have been and continue to be negatively affected by prejudice and discrimination in the healthcare system. Here are a few stats to know:

  • are 20 percent more likely to report serious psychological distress, feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness than are adult whites.
  • are more likely to be victims of serious violent crime than are whites, making them more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
  • 30% of Black adults with mental illness receive treatment each year, compared to 43% white adults.
  • Misdiagnoses, inadequate treatment, and lack of cultural competence by health professionals cause distrust and prevent many in the black community from seeking or staying in treatment and socio-economic factors can make treatment less available. (sources: National Alliance on Mental Illness and US HHS Office of Minority Health) 

Please follow, amplify, and learn from these mental health advocates to care for your own mental health while also learning about black mental health and the systematic racism that exists in the healthcare system. That knowledge will help us all donate, vote, and structure our businesses to work towards solutions.

There are so many others to recognize and connect with beyond this list. You are welcome to contribute to this list and amplify others by tagging them in the comments.

  • Beam Org — BEAM is a training, movement building, and grant-making organization dedicated to the healing, wellness, and liberation of Black and marginalized communities.
  • Therapy for Black Girls — This space was developed to present mental health topics in a way that feels more accessible and relevant for black women.
  • Black Female Therapists — Locate a therapist in your area and gain some tips for better mental health.
  • The Holistic Black Healing Collective by Alishia MccCullough, LMHT — Anti-Oppression and Integrative Support Network for Black and Brown Folks.
  • Full Circle Therapy Services with  Sonia Ross, LCSW-C — Specializing in those with depression, anxiety, and trauma
  • Brown Girl Self Care — provides revolutionary self-care resources and community to support Black women as they center their health and healing.
  • You Good Sis — You Good Sis is a collective for black and brown women looking for a mental, spiritual and physical check-in.
  • Rachael Ricketts — With support from her team of fellow disrupters, she hosts online and in-person workshops including her renowned Spiritual Activism series which promotes racial justice, reconciliation, and healing for all hue-mxns, prioritizing the needs and comfort of Black and Indigenous womxn+.
  • Black Girl in Om — Black Girl In Om introduces Divine Disruption: The Circle 1.0, a digital sister circle for our global community.
  • Jamila Reddy — Learn more about Make it Happen: an online vision-accelerator program for creative, compassionate people who want to have a big impact on the world and spend more time doing what they love.

Learn and Take Action

As we continue to listen, to learn, to do the work as a company, we will continue to add to this list, create further resources to support and stand with the black community.